The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

the intervening words “when I arrived in Galilee” represent something that is totally
impossible. It is equally impossible that Josephus, who already in sections 30/31 was in the
middle of Galilee — because Sepphoris is located there — acts then and there on the basis of
his own assessment, and now he does not set foot in Galilee until section 62, gathering the
initial reports from messengers and on his part requesting orders from Jerusalem.
The problem posed here in principle finds its significant expression in two difficulties
of interpretation. If in section 30 εὗρον has, as we saw, the precise signification: “during my
presence I have found,” then directly following in section 31 a totally different meaning must
be inherent in this same word where it refers to the findings in Tiberias. For Josephus had in
fact not been in Tiberias at that time, rather in sections 30/31 and 64 respectively he appears
in Sepphoris, while he comes into contact with the inhabitants of Tiberias for the first time in
section 64. Therefore we must understand εὗρον here [to mean] something like: I found a
situation of which I had been given account by another party. In principle, there can be no
objection to this. But are we now seriously to believe that Josephus chose the [same] word
twice in succession with [two] entirely different meaning[s] within a single uniform report?
Whoever reads the end of section 31 as a continuation of 30/31 cannot but assume that
Josephus was in Tiberius, — but this impression is altogether incorrect.
Parallel to this is the case regarding ταῦτα in section 62. To what is this word referring?
No doubt can enter here either, factually [speaking]; it [refers to] everything that Josephus has
learned from messengers, i.e. the events in Tiberias, Gischala and Gamala that he reported.
But formally there is not the slightest reason to intend to exclude Sepphoris here; for Josephus
had after all used the same word εὗρον regarding his findings in Sepphoris as [he did]
regarding Tiberias (cf. above). Therefore ταῦτα refers formally, aside from Gischala and
Gamala, either to Sepphoris and Tiberias or to neither of the two — and both are equally
wrong. [39] In summary we [may] establish that Josephus headed towards Sepphoris (30/31)
after his arrival in Galilee and from there he went to Tiberias. Contradictory to this is
1. εὗρον from section 31, which in conjunction with 30/31 leads to a much earlier
point in time for [Josephus’] personal presence in Tiberias,
2. the beginning of section 62
a) because it presents Josephus only at the border of Galilee, and in any
case not yet in Sepphoris where he is staying according to 30/31 and 64,
37